‘Extremely Rare’ Baby Donkey Winds Up with Two Mommies

Something incredible has happened at Dalscone Farms just in time for World Donkey Day! Farm owner Ben Best was monitoring two female donkeys, Star and Mary, who were pregnant at the same time. Though the mothers weren’t expected to give birth for a few weeks, Best was met with a pleasant surprise one morning: a sweet little foal standing beside the two female donkeys. But which female was the mama? A strange series of events was about to unfold as Best sought to discover the answer!

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Dalscone Farms Investigation The Good News

Dalscone Farms

Cow standing on a field near a barn — Cows are one of the farm animals kids enjoy at Dalscone Farms.

©Sportactive/iStock via Getty Images

Dalscone Farms is located in Dumfries, a town in southwest Scotland. This family-owned farm caters to families and children, offering educational opportunities and fun-filled days in nature. The farm is popular for kids parties and offers animal encounters with traditional farm animals. For those who can’t visit the farm in person, they offer a live stream of the animals via their Facebook page. In-person visitors get the true, up-close-and-personal experience and are especially lucky if they are able to catch a live birth!

Investigation

After finding a brand-new foal on his property, Best was trying to decipher which donkey was the proud new mama when he made another discovery: a second foal, this one sadly stillborn, lying in a corner of the paddock. Farmer Ben was confused. He later told BBC Radio, “I stopped still, thinking: ‘Have they both foaled at the exact same time? Or has one had twins, and one’s not made it?’ Both would be incredibly rare circumstances.” After careful inspection, he came to the realization that both mothers had indeed foaled during the same night, despite being several days away from their due dates! One birth resulted in a perfectly healthy baby, while the other was unfortunately stillborn.

The Good News

Donkey foal in grassland — Donkey foals are perhaps the cutest babies on a farm!

©EPei at the German language Wikipedia / Creative Commons – Original

Although one female had sadly lost her baby, neither Star nor Mary was mourning the loss. Ben Best described, “That’s where the confusion got deeper. Both mums thought the foal was theirs. Both were behaving exactly the same way, almost mirroring each other’s behaviour.” Essentially, both females seemed to think the baby was theirs, mothering the young foal in a variety of ways. The farm vet was unable to determine which donkey was the biological mother of the little one. And the best part is, it doesn’t seem to matter! The baby donkey, named Soloman, is perfectly content to have two mamas, and the females are sharing the motherly responsibilities of caring for the sweet foal equally.

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